


rainy day

by lesmiraculous (Skelebae)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien also can't function around Mari, Adrien is a lil ooc i think, Angst with a Happy Ending, DJWifi, F/M, Fluff, If You Squint - Freeform, Marichat, Partial Identity Reveal, adrienette - Freeform, akuma!marinette, akumanette, alix and kim are only mentioned, bc i love that hc, if ya'll want it ofc, one-sided identity reveal, possible series?, there's a lil bit of fluff so, tikki can purify akumas, try and pull it from my dead ass hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 23:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19344439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skelebae/pseuds/lesmiraculous
Summary: Marinette decides to return the umbrella she was lent long ago.(First ML fic but not my first fic if that makes sense.)





	rainy day

She still has the umbrella. It’s propped up against her wardrobe, unused. Dusty. A patch of sunlight gone awry casts across the glossy handle, immaculate. That makes sense, since it once used to be in Adrien’s care. 

Sometimes, on rainy days, she ponders on taking it out for its intended use. It’s a risky move. With her luck, she could bump into Adrien and he may ask for it back. She doesn’t know if she wants to ever give it back. It reminds her of him-- of the laughter they shared-- that day in the rain. It’s a memory stored vividly in her heart, locked up tight and pulled out when she thinks of him. She knows it’s wrong, but she can’t seem to let it go.

“Marinette, it’s rude to keep other people’s things. You have to do what’s right!”

She really, really hates it when Tikki has a good point. 

Therefore, on the next rainy day—that Thursday, she brings it with her to school. She listens to the rain batter gently on the canopy and can feel the ghost of his touch on her hand. It’s enough to keep her face warm as she braves the downpour.

She’s a little sad as she walks through the entrance to Lycée. She folds her—Adrien’s— umbrella and takes out a small hand towel to dry it. A little excessive, sure, but well worth it in her eyes. Once it’s cleaned of any rain, it's wrapped up in the handmade pouch she created for it and she continues to her classroom. For once, she’s early to school; not too early, as hinted by the fair amount of people she passes in the hallway. She’s greeted by Alya and Nino as she walks into class. 

Her eyes immediately go to the empty seat beside Nino. Her brow creases and she pressed her lips into a thin line. No Adrien yet. It’s early, though, and he’s known for being late to class almost as much as she is. 

The bell rings just as Nino gets a message from Adrien. He has a shoot today and he wouldn’t be there till after lunch. She has a little more time before she must give the umbrella back, then. 

As lunch rolls around the sun decides to make an appearance again, told by the wall of fog that greets the trio as they walk down the street. The destination for them was a tiny sandwich shop a short distance away from the school. As they walked, small talk was made. Marinette kept to the back while Alya and Nino took the front, chattering about a movie they had seen the past weekend. 

Since Adrien wouldn’t be showing anytime soon, Marinette had decided to leave the umbrella tucked beneath her bench back at school. She figured it would be safer there, away from the outside where it could be dirtied or otherwise blemished. Sadly, she hadn’t taken into account that Chloe would notice the Gabriel brand decal embedded into its handle. 

Chloe returned to the darkened classroom stealthily, as much as one can be while giggling to themself. Usually, she’d have Sabrina do her dirty work, but since the redhead was out today for some reason, it lay on her own shoulders this time. She quickly tip-toed up the steps to Marinette’s seat and began her search for the umbrella. It didn’t take long to find, as it happens. She merely bent over to look underneath the bench and found it lying innocently on the ground there. She plucked it up and examined the covering, running her nails over the exterior to produce a sound like a zipper being pulled. 

She smiled wickedly.

 

Halfway through Marinette’s order of tuna salad, Adrien pops up. Literally. One second her mouth is full of food and she’s relaxing finally as she listens to her best friends talk to each other and the next she feels a warm presence behind her.

“Adrien! Bro!”

She peers upward and gets lost in green irises, half chewed food forgotten in her mouth as she realizes that her crush is right behind her, leaning over her. His chest is brushing the top of her head and his stomach is right behind it and it takes merely milliseconds for her to flush completely red. It’s beautiful for a long moment.

A nervous gulp, and she starts immediately hacking as her food goes down the wrong pipe. The moment disappears as soon as it comes.

“Ah-- sorry Marinette! I didn’t mean to scare you.” Adrien apologies hurriedly. The worried crease in his brow isn’t something she wanted to see on him, but she’s too busy trying to clear her windpipe to worry about it right now. She waves off his concern with a hand and tries to pass off as normal for a solid second before she begins coughing her lungs out some more, albeit more discreet this time around.

While Alya rubbed her back and snickered quietly, Adrien sat in the empty seat beside Nino. The DJ held out a fist towards his bestie, which Adrien met with his own. 

“Glad you made it for lunch, bro. How was the shoot?

Adrien shrugged. “The usual. Have I missed anything in school so far?”

“Besides actual school stuff? Alix and Kim got into an arm wrestling match to decide the winner for this other contest where they tried to pick up and hold Ivan for the longest.” Nino recollected. “I don't think they've decided who's won yet.”

Marinette recovers just as Adrien smiles in amusement. Again, she's sent into a hacking fit, for a completely different (but related) reason this time.

“Girl, what am I gonna do with you?”

 

Adrien is the first to move into the classroom, followed by Alya, Nino, and lastly Marinette. Seeing her desk, and the hint of the umbrella’s ferrule peeking from beside her desk, makes her remember what she was originally planning to do today.

“Oh, Adrien!” She pipes up, a nervous shimmer to her voice. He seems to turn in slow motion as he switches his attention to her, one of his eyebrows raised in question. She’s reminded that he, Alya, and Nino were in the middle of a conversation and can’t help but blush. Hopefully, she didn’t interrupt him as he was speaking. 

“Yeah, Marinette?”

She holds up a single finger and trots quickly up the stairs, retrieving the little black umbrella in its brand new protective covering and handing it to him. Her smile is small, but sweetly shy as she offers it to him.

“I-I, um-- I wanted to give you your u-umbella-- umb _ r _ ella back!”

She swears that Adrien’s resultant smile afterwards is enough to banish all rainy days from Paris forever. “Wow, I kinda forgot about that! Thank you so much, Marinette!” His fingers close around the umbrella and she lets go, watching him study the covering around it. “I don’t remember there being a jacket for this one, though?”

Marinette can’t help the anxious titter that leaves her mouth. “I-I made it, to protect it! I figured it w-would be a fair apology for keeping it for s-so long. Sorry about that, wy the ba-- by the way.” Her fingers fiddle with the bottom of her jacket, and she doesn’t see much less hear Adrien’s shocked gasp after he pulls the covering’s zipper. She doesn’t look up until Alya makes one of her own, however, and is just as shocked by what she sees.

Pieces of the black canopy fall to the ground, as the covering reveals a tattered umbrella. Adrien has the handle in his right hand as he blinks stupidly at the mess he’s creating on the ground. Seeing the destruction of part of a memory that so warms her heart made Marinette’s face pale.

Marinette’s silence is only a couple of seconds long before she’s backpedalling. “Oh my god, Adrien, I--”

“Why..?” Adrien’s golden hair falls over his downturned face, so she can’t see his expression; but she doesn’t need to. His voice sounds so small, so fragile. “I think-- Thought, that you were so amazing. You were kind, considerate. You helped people, and you-- you were s-so--”

His fingers tighten around the handle along with the knot in Marinette’s stomach. “Y-You don’t understand, I--” She tries, but balks when he looks up at her, chartreuse pools rippling with tears. She’s never seen him so… Hurt.

“No, I understand. I do. You have disliked me since the gum incident, right? That's why you're so skittish and nervous around me.” He shoves what little of the umbrella is left into her shaking fingers. “I get it, you hate me. You didn’t have to show it like this, though. I thought you were better than that.” She can’t tell if that’s anger or sadness rising in his voice. She only feels her racing heartbeat and the stinging pain of a fissure as it splinters through her heart.

_ Run, run, run! _ Her mind screams. So she does. She pushes past him and bolts down the stairs and leaves Alya’s call of her name behind.

Somewhere, only a few moments later, a corrupted purple butterfly braves the soft drizzle beginning to sprinkle over Paris. 

 

Marinette’s pink flats smack against the hallway floor as she runs towards the entrance of the school. Lucky for her, the people she passes by don’t stop her. She doesn’t want to stop. She just wants to run and forget the hurt lines she saw etched into Adrien’s forehead as he cried. Her fingers are tight around the ruined umbrella, small pieces of the canopy flying off behind her as she runs.

She gets to the beginning of the stairs before she realizes the purple butterfly soaring straight for the umbrella is an akuma. She barely has time to rip off her earrings and shove them into her purse as the insect lands and soaks into the tattered canopy of the umbrella. Another swift movement takes the purse off and lets it fall to the ground, where it spills open. Tikki tumbles out just as the butterfly insignia alights around Marinette’s face. 

Suddenly, the crushing weight of guilt and disappointment threatens to split her chest in two. The scene she just fled from repeats in her head as Hawkmoth speaks. 

“What a horribly rainy day for a girl’s heart to break. Worse even that the boy you love doesn’t see the truth. But you’ll show him, Rainy Day. As long as you get those Miraculous jewels for me.”

Tikki shakes her head to clear it. It was quite the fall she had taken, and she barely understood what was going on. Through her rapidly clearing vision she watched as her holder was bathed in a poisonous looking cloud. It didn’t register that she was akumatized until Tikki watched the butterfly disappear from Marinette’s features.

Her chosen’s skin had turned into a rosy pink, and her usual jacket and capris were traded out for a mauve shawl with a peachy fur lining and an asymmetrical red raincoat, half of which was black spotted. Black gloves cradled the newly repaired umbrella with a gentle touch. Her pigtails were replaced with pale grey clouds that thundered softly and crackled with lightning, as well as dripped rain onto her lilac galoshes. 

“Marinette?” Tikki’s eyes widened. 

The akuma’s head turned to look at the shocked kwami sitting on the ground. Striking lilac irises contrasted against her ebony mask as they peered at the creature. The air she held about her was strangely calm, serene. The quiet before a storm.

“I’m not Marinette. I’m Rainy Day.”

 

“Adrien, I swear, Marinette never wanted to hurt you. The umbrella was fine when we left, she even dried it before putting it in the jacket thing!”

Adrien isn't listening to her, merely picking up the scraps of fabric on the floor and trying not to feel even worse about the situation. He always had a feeling that, deep down, Marinette still thought he was a bully who tried to make her life miserable… Her hating him would have been fine had she been upfront about it. 

Instead, she hid her feelings and didn't speak up about how she really felt. That is why this hurt him so much. 

Nino took it upon himself to act as a mediator, holding back his protective girlfriend and pleading for Adrien to listen. 

This is the scene Chloe Bourgeois walks into and it's delicious. She barely has time to put on a mock up of a pout before bustling over to Adrien’s side. “Adrikins! Whatever happened here? You look so upset!”

Alya’s firey chocolate hues pick up Chloe's façade in seconds. It's not even hard to figure out that Chloé had a hand in this when she's suppressing her 'I’ll always be better than you and that's why you should bow to me’ smirk, rubbing Adrien's back --like that would totally make her look innocent. Nino knows all too well of the murderous glint that's beginning to rise in his girlfriend's face. 

A shitstorm is brewing. 

A step by the young reporter. “Bourgeois. I swear, if…”

A reporter has an eye for detail. A good reporter knows when evidence is staring her in the face-- or, well, when she steps on it by accident. She picks it up from under her foot from its hiding place, just under Marinette’s side of the bench. A white nail file. Alya turns it over in her hand to expose the golden engraving in its handle. 

“Moi? I did nothing!” Chloe gasps mockingly, grabbing Adrien's shoulder. “I'm a pure angel. Why would I hurt my Adrikins?”

Chloe's eyes look up to a very pissed Alya holding an item that has her own name written all over it. Literally. Her painted lips shut immediately. Hearing the pop of shocked lipgloss makes Adrien's head turn towards Alya as well, the realization that he just did something terrible flashing in his eyes once he sees the evidence that proves the true culprit. 

“Go on now, pure angel.” Nino’s tone is dry, sarcasm dripping off his tongue. If Alya weren't livid, she'd kiss him. Maybe later. 

Adrien, while late on the uptake, scrambled after Marinette once he realized that she wasn’t trying to make him upset. He was determined to fix this before Marinette started to hate him again for real, or even worse…

Plagg hung onto the collar of his overshirt like a lifeline. “Kid, for kwami’s sake, slow down!”

“I can’t!” Adrien insisted as she narrowly avoided a teacher walking past, who called for him to stop running as he skidded around a corner. “Marinette could be akumatized at any moment, and I can’t let that happen to her!”

He burst out the front doors to a wall of rain. It wasn’t enough to soak him immediately, but he was damp when he backtracked underneath the school’s awning. Adrien swore under his breath. If Marinette was still okay, and she was still out while in this storm…

“Tikki?”

Plagg speaking suddenly caught Adrien off guard. He turned his head to look at Plagg who… Wasn’t there. Actually, he was a few feet away at a corner, talking in a hushed voice to… someone else?

Adrien walked slowly over to his kwami, kneeling to the ground and peeking around Plagg curiously. 

“She’s akumatized?” His kwami asks, his tail jerking in anxiety.

“I’m afraid so… I didn’t hear much in her purse, but it sounded bad. Did you hear anything?”

The second voice belonged to a slightly smaller kwami, red in color with a big black dot on her forehead and smaller dots on her cheeks. Her big blue eyes flickered to Adrien when he got close enough, which led to Plagg turning around to look at Adrien. 

A moment of silence fell over the three, which Adrien took to appraise the new kwami further. She had two earrings in her paws and sat on top of a small, round purse with a familiar floral design that reminded him of Marinette’s shirt…

Three things became immediately clear.

One, this new kwami was  _ obviously _ Ladybug’s kwami. The little antennae sticking out of her little head was a dead giveaway, as was the earrings that he knew to be Ladybug’s miraculous.

Two, the purse she sat on was definitely Marinette’s. He’d seen it on her person several times before, so that was a given.

Which meant that three: somehow, these two facts were linked. 

“Why is Ladybug’s kwami sitting with Marinette’s purse?” Adrien asked, brows crinkling in confusion.

A pause as he processes… Then it hits him.

“...Marinette is Ladybug, isn’t she?” Adrien asks in a soft tone, and Tikki nods. His throat closes up as a wave of mixed emotions hit him fully. Anger at himself. Sadness for Marinette. Ecstatic because Marinette was Ladybug… 

Plagg floats up to pat his cheek. “I’d say take all the time you need to process that info, but we need to go find her, kid.”

Plagg is right, Adrien thinks. Judging by the fact that Ladybug herself abandoned her earrings, it wasn't hard to figure out that she was compromised by Hawkmoth. That means he's looking for an Akuma. He goes to stand, but Plagg has him pick up Marinette’s purse with Tikki and the earrings inside before he transforms. 

“Plagg, claws out!” 

Once his transformation is fully completed, he wastes no time in vaulting over the school's steps and plunging himself into the storm's torrent. And boy, it's a storm. The trees he passes are bowing from the harsh winds’ push. He looks towards the sky and notes the darkened clouds, the rotation around the Eiffle Tower. A pit settles in his stomach when he realizes what a mess he's made.

He makes his way to the eye of the storm. The closer he gets, the worse it seems. Hail meets him halfway there, and mild flooding begins on some of the rooftops he uses to navigate forward. It takes every drop of will in his soul to keep from ducking into a shop or something to warm up. He's so cold, and so wet, and every cat sense he has is hissing in annoyance, but he won't stop until he gets to her. He can't. What is Paris without their Ladybug?

As soon as Chat Noir steps under the Eiffel Tower, the rain gets even worse. Sheets upon sheets of sleet, hail, and rain pummel against the metal of Paris’ signature monument. There isn’t a single soul out here with him, but there shouldn’t be anyways-- The storm is enough of a reason to stay inside. He decides it’s too risky to try climbing the outside and instead bolts for the elevator.

Inside, soft music plays. It’s classical piano and it feels warm inside with his soaked suit being as cold as it is. It’s a long way to the top this way, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He sits on the floor of the elevator and waits as the elevator’s motor hums around him. His back slumps against the wall.

Tikki pops her head out to see why the rain stopped beating on the purse, and sees how out of it Chat seems. A red paw touches his side, and he looks down at the red kwami. She gives him a small smile. 

“Marinette won’t put up a fight. She loves this city and her duty as Ladybug far too much.” Tikki reassures him. 

He shakes his head and lets it fall back against the wall. “I’m not worried about fighting her.”

“Is something else bothering you, then?”

Well yeah, a lot was. Ladybug sat behind him for the longest time and he never knew it. He thought that he would figure it out under different conditions: He’d bump into her on the street and look into her eyes and just know, or he’d save her during an akuma before she could transform and it would just be… perfect. 

Instead, he gets to meet her unmasked as an akuma. Guilt eats at his stomach. Knowing he was the one who caused her akumatization didn’t help things. 

“I caused her to become an akuma,” Chat mumbles. “I didn’t even think when she gave me the umbrella and I saw that it was destroyed, I just reacted.”

Tikki floated up to meet his gaze. “Chat, it’s okay. I’m sure she forgives you, what else were you supposed to think?”

“That Marinette is so much better than petty vandalism.”

The kwami smiles at that, but shakes her head. “While that’s true, it still doesn’t change the fact that your response was human, and completely understandable.” She pauses, seeming to mull something over for a second, before speaking up again. “Do you know why she kept the umbrella for so long?”

Chat’s messy hair-do sways as he shakes his head. 

“She kept it because it was part of a memory she treasures. She had it in her room for so long. I finally convinced her to bring it back to you a few days ago. She made the covering as soon as she decided to give it back to you, because she wanted to keep it safe.”

Chat wasn’t sure what kind of memory it was that was so dear to Marinette. “What memory?”

Tikki shakes her head. “It’s not my story to tell. You should ask her yourself.”

As if she summoned it herself, the elevator dinged and opened. Chat expected more wind and rain, but outside looked… Peaceful. Tikki flew back into the purse, and when she was safely tucked inside, he ran out to the railing. He looked below and saw a sea of swirling cumulonimbus clouds, some flashing with lightning in the distance. Another layer of clouds moved well above his head, creating a sort of pocket of unweathered atmosphere.

Well, it wasn’t completely clear. He watched a medium sized rain cloud float lazily by, the burgundy canopy of an umbrella peeking out from its fluffy tufts. He figured that it must be Marinette. Why else would there be an umbrella on a rain cloud? 

It was too far to just step onto, so he pulled himself on top of the railing. He withdrew his trusty baton and extended it just so on the ledge of the platform, letting himself rise up with it before leaning forward. He landed onto her cloud with a soft thud. The cloud beneath his boots reminded him of being a child and walking on top of his parents’ waterbed to wake them up, though then the bed didn’t give way as much as the cloud did now. 

Here, the wind is gentle. It blows against the cloud and causes tiny tufts to fly off, only for them to regrow. Amidst this is Marinette. The clouds serving as her pigtails thunder softly to the beat her shaking shoulders create. She sits on the edge of the cloud with her legs hanging into the open sky. 

Chat walks over slowly, sitting behind her off to her right and crossing his legs. “Hi.” He blurts out before he really thinks. He doesn’t think she's a violent akuma, judging by her demure status. Tikki had also given him some faith that she wouldn’t be as horrible as the last weather akuma he’d faced. 

Her face turns towards him slightly, and he catches soft pink skin and a dark mask framing her eyes of lilac. They widen fractionally at seeing him there. “Chat Noir?”

A neon outline of a butterfly appears, and he sees her squeeze her eyes shut before looking indignant. The neon slowly flickers away. After it’s gone, her eyes flutter to look at him again. She seemed tired. 

“The one and only, princess.” He offers gently, sitting behind her with his legs crossed. She watches him like a weary, injured animal, and he didn't blame her one bit. Instead, he smiles softly at her.

Her voice, though more or less sounding the same, carries the subtle thunder of a summer storm. “I would say I didn't expect you, but I was, so…”

“No need for clichés.” Chat affirms as he relaxes his shoulders. 

The world is quiet here. The only noise around them was the intermittent rolling of thunder and the wind brushing past. The sun felt nice after such a dreary search in the rain. He turned his face towards the sky and sighed.

Rainy Day shuts her eyes. “I wish…” She starts soft, a drizzle that starts in the tones of her voice. “I wish I could tell him the truth.”

Chat knows who she means, but elects to ask anyways to keep appearances. “Who?” His question turns his head in her direction.

“Adrien.” The gloved hands holding onto the umbrella rub their thumbs against the handle. “He thinks I hate him. I don't.” The little clouds that are part of her hair darken and growl with thunder as tears pool in her eyes. “I wish I could tell him what made me keep this umbrella for so long. I wish I could tell him about my feelings.”

Her eyes squeeze shut as she continues. “The day he gave me this, it looked a bit like this one. I was still angry about him putting gum in my seat. He still tried to talk to me after school ended, though. I turned away.”

Chat became engrossed in her recounting of the day they started to be friends. He views it with the same admiration, just in a different lens… To hear her side of it helped him understand the things she did around his civilian self.

He finds a bit of relief as a soft, nostalgic smile appears on her face. “But he… He didn't leave me there long enough to brood. He saw the rain, and handed this umbrella to me. Told me he's never been to school before, or had friends. He told me that the gum was Chloe's fault.” Soft violet hues land on the handle in her hands. “And said he'd see me tomorrow. I just stood there and watched him walk to his car and leave. I remember standing like that in the rain for a good five minutes before I snapped out of it and headed home.

“From there, there isn't much to recount. I kept the umbrella in my room for months and months and when I finally bring it to school to return it to him… Somebody tears it to shreds. Now he thinks I hate him...”

Her face falls. Her eyes shutting encouraged a couple of tears to squeeze out, running down her rosy skin and falling onto her attire. Her hands tightened around the umbrella handle.

His heart drops as she begins to cry, gripping that umbrella handle like her life depended on it. Right then and there he wants to drop the transformation and fix everything. He knows he can’t be so careless, especially since his true identity would also be revealed to Hawkmoth. He also can’t mention that he knows that the akuma before him is Ladybug. It could be that the villain already knows, but in the chance he doesn’t, Chat refuses to give him the satisfaction. 

Well, it does satisfy his curiosity about his lady’s identity, now he knows. He’s still trying to process it. Now isn’t the right time to linger on that, however.

Gently, clawed gloves pull away her own fingers from the umbrella. The purple butterfly insignia flares up again, but Rainy Day seems to tune it out as she opens her eyes to see the umbrella in her partner's hands. He holds it above both of their heads as he looks at her. 

“...I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but things are going to get better. Trust me.” A toothy but reassuring smile is sent her way. He folds the umbrella and slides it into his belt before unsheathing his baton. “The first step is getting you away from Hawkmoth’s influence.”

He extends his weapon to create an easy vault back to the platform he was on before. He turns his head to Rainy Day with a hand to beckon her forward.

“Come on, Mari. You and I both know you’re too good to be an akuma.”

Silence rings as they vault back over to the platform. It doesn’t take much for the spine of the umbrella to break in his hands, revealing the darkened butterfly. A red blur shoots away from the purse around his neck and catches the vile little thing before it gets too far. Tikki returns to the pair as she chews. 

Chat’s nose wrinkles, and he almost makes a protest before Tikki raises a paw to shush him. She spits into the other paw. After the glow fades, there is a tiny… Something. It’s translucent and spherical. A caterpillar egg. It makes perfect sense that Tikki could revert the akumas to such an underdeveloped state, a rebirth of sorts. She is the goddess of creation, of course.

“...What is that? What just happened…?” A groggy Marinette stands in place of the akuma from before. The umbrella that once was mended for the sake of being akuma bait is back to its original ripped form, including the broken spine. Dazed blue hues blink blearily and look up at Chat, who… Isn’t sure what to say. For once, he doesn’t need to rush off after fighting an akuma. He has plenty of time to sit down with her and talk about this.

“It’s a long story.” Chat replies. That’s an understatement. “I’ll just hit the main parts and you can ask from there.” After a little nod of assent, he lists them off on his fingers.

“First, you were akumatized, but you were really easy to handle so don’t worry. Second of all, uh…” He glances to Tikki and Marinette finally notices the kwami hovering beside him. She goes very, very still.

“You know.”

A sheepish grin appears on his face. Tikki flits forward, still cradling the little ball in her paws. “I didn’t have a choice, Marinette. We didn’t have a Ladybug to purify the akuma, so I was needed.”

Marinette’s shoulders slump forward with a sigh, a strained look on her face as she looks up at her kwami. “I understand, Tik. I’m glad you were able to help Chat in my stead.” Not so glad, however, at the fact that now her partner knows her identity. She tries to play it off cooly, with a limp tilt of her head in his direction. “...I’m guessing you know that you can’t tell anybody about this?”

His left index finger marks an ‘x’ over his heart. “Cross my heart, my princess.” He swears. The usual joking tone isn’t apparent in his voice, only soft concern. She half expected him to say ‘My lady’ but hearing him call her his princess did weird things to her stomach. She cleared her throat and sends a smile his direction, which he returns.

“It’s great to have you back. Seeing you so upset is... upsetting.” 

Her smile softens quite a bit. “...I can definitely say that being an akuma wasn't something I was prepared for. I'm very glad I had you here to deal with me, chaton.” The ever familiar feeling of her index finger pushing against his nose makes his tail fwip side to side in quiet elation. 

Something about seeing Ladybug’s mannerisms coming out of Marinette made them both mesh together easier, becoming some sort of conglomeration of two girls who stupefied him. He always wondered how he would have felt about Marinette if Ladybug wasn’t in the picture-- If he took the time to figure out why she was so shy around him and got to know her better. The fact that they were the same person made that venture easy to figure out. 

“I'm… Sorry for what happened with your friend. I think everything will end up fine, it's hard not to forgive somebody that's as good as you are.” He says in a tone that’s full of hidden meaning. 

Her shoulders tense as she sighs. “I want to believe you, but… I'm so scared to face him.” A hand rises to tug at one of her pigtails as she bites her lip. “You didn't see his face. He looked so heartbroken… I just want to make everything okay again…”

Hearing this from Marinette was heartwarming. He'd always worried about her opinion of him. She seemed so bold and passionate usually, and the way her mood seemed to dramatically change when he came around gave him the impression that he scared or intimidated her. To listen to her talk about his civilian self brought a sense of wonderful relief, as well as a bit of guilt. 

His voice held soft notes of kindness and understanding. “It sounds like you care for this guy a lot.”

Pink cheeks tinge even pinker. “I care for him so much. He’s my whole  _ world _ , Chat.”

The way she says it carries significant weight, her voice filling with sweetness and devotion. It’s a thick feeling that curls its way around his heart and throat, choking himself before he can think of a reply. He doesn’t even know what to say to that, too worried about the implications of her confession. Luckily, he doesn’t have to say anything, because she continues.

“Have you ever seen him smile? Not his fake smile, the one he puts up around cameras-- His real smile. The one that shows his little dimples and makes his eyes squint. It’s so warm, it lights up a whole room. When you talk to him, he makes you feel like the most important person in the world… He listens, he doesn’t interrupt, and he’s patient. Even with me, when I take almost 10 minutes to even speak a sentence around him. He waits. He doesn’t make me feel weird for stuttering. He’s the kind of person who cares about others even if they don’t care at all for him.” When her eyes shut again, there are no tears. Just a gentle, reverent smile as she paints a mental picture in her mind of golden locks and spring green irises. 

He lets a playful tone color his voice to hide the fact that he was so close to scooping her up and swinging her around in his glee. “I suppose I will have to compete for your affections against him?” His hands fold behind his back as he grins cattishly.

A snort so Ladybug-like makes his heart stutter, and it’s a surprise that he doesn’t swoon when her bright bluebell eyes turn to look at him in amusement. “There’s no competition if he’s already won, tomcat.”

“Alas, I accept my defeat with a heavy heart.” He snarks back, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from widening further into a genuine grin. So she did like him-- Maybe even love him. 

Never has he felt the need to shout his detransformation phrase and sweep her off her feet. The timing would be horrible, however. She just went through being an akuma, not to mention that he still needed to apologize to her as Adrien. When he tells her, he wants it to be the perfect moment. So, he fights the urge.

“Alright, enough flirting you two. You need to figure out how to play this.” Tikki chimes in, making Marinette flush with an indignant huff. Chat files that information for later, as that was definitely something he was curious about. “Paris sustained a lot of damage in the storm, so we need Ladybug to use the cure to fix everything.”

“I can’t just jump down there after I use the cure, either.” Marinette tacks on, her expression turning thoughtful. “Whoever knew Marinette was akumatized would figure out my identity…”

Tikki shook her head. “Just transform, I have that covered.” With that, she dives into Marinette’s purse to deposit the egg and reappears. Chat takes off the purse and hands it over to Marinette. 

Then she transforms. The rose glow that consumes her reminds him of fairy tales, of every story having a happy ending. In Marinette’s place is his famed partner, a sight for sore eyes (even though he knew that she’d been standing there the whole time.)

A quick call of her lucky charm gives her a wrapped up blanket, approximately Marinette’s size. Black hair sticks out of the opening, a wig on a mannequin head standing in for her actual head. 

“Well, she wasn’t wrong. Tikki did have it covered.” Chat says, earning a flick on one of his feline ears. 

“As much as I would love to hear your puns for the rest of the day, I need to get home before my timer wears off.” Gingerly, she takes the remaining bits of Adrien’s umbrella and tucks them into the blanket, before settling the blanket into a bridal style carry and leaping onto the railing. Before she takes off, she turns her head a little to look at Chat Noir. The way she looks at him makes his knees quake a little.

“Thank you, Chat, for saving me. See you around?”

He gives her a salute. “See ya, my lady.”

She jumps off, and he runs to the railing to watch her disappear towards the bakery with the stupidest of lovesick smiles on his face.

* * *

“Hello, ladies and gentlebugs! This is Alya Cesaire of the Ladyblog with the latest scoop!

“According to some of my outside sources, an akuma attack was the cause of that crazy afternoon storm we had! As always, Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the scene and managed to deal with it before anything severe occurred, thank goodness!. Here’s some footage of Ladybug after the attack, carrying what seems to be the victim wrapped in a blanket-- LB’s lucky charm, no doubt by those black spots on the red background. I was able to catch it as Ladybug was swinging by my house yesterday.

“As far as the victim’s identity, nothing has been found out. I don’t think we’ll find anything out about her identity at all, as far as that goes-- The only people there to see the akuma seemed to be just our heroes. I would have been surprised if anybody saw them anyways, with how horrible the storm seemed to be. Hopefully all of you stayed inside and safe during that storm!

“That’s it for this akuma attack, it seems! I hope ya’ll have a good one, and be sure to stay tuned for any more akuma updates by turning on post notifications! Alya, out!”

* * *

Ladybug lands on her balcony, pretending to mess with the blankets and talk to “Marinette” (she can’t help but be even more careful than usual. It’s bad enough Chat knows…) before removing the broken umbrella and bunching the blanket around the be-wigged mannequin head and and tossing it up, whispering her cure’s magic words and watching the lovelinesses of ladybugs scatter in the sky. A smaller group swoops down to wrap around the broken umbrella to fix the spine before flying off to do who knows what. Seeing the canopy unfixed makes Ladybug sigh, before her eyes widen with a determined glint. A quick swing, and she’s gone.

Marinette checks her phone as she walks up to the bakery, and her phone is missed call after missed call from her parents, Alya, and Nino. Worried texts asking about where she was, to be careful in the storm. She shifts the shopping bags in her grip in preparation to open the bakery doors, only to squeak out in surprise as her mother runs out to meet her at the bakery’s front door. Sabine’s arms wrap around her daughter’s shoulders, relieved to see her okay. Tom isn’t very far behind.

Marinette realizes that this is something that needs right now: home and comfort. So she takes their doting and fawning while replying to Alya and Nino to let them know she’s safe. Her parents had questioned her when seeing the shopping bags but she simply said it was for a surprise, and politely excused herself to her room after dinner.

The next day, fortunately, is bright and sunny. Marinette tilts her face towards the rays of sun starting to scatter over Paris, soaking in the warmth for a second. She did get up earlier than usual, so she had plenty of time to smell the roses. Or feel the morning sunlight. She stretches with a soft groan, noting the time on her desktop computer as she gets dressed for the day. Only 3 hours of sleep… She can barely stifle a yawn in front of her parents as she grabs a croissant to munch on the way to school.

Stepping through the front doors of Lycee reminds her of yesterday, of bolting out the door into the drizzle... and not much afterwards. For that, she’s glad. She doesn't want to remember how Hawkmoth took advantage of her negative emotions; She’s supposed to be the saviour of Paris, not a menace to the people she loves and protects. With that in mind, a determined trot leads her to the classroom, where Alya and Nino greet her warmly. Adrien is also offering a welcome to her with one of his shy smiles. It’s enough to make her chest turn to warm, fuzzy goo. Even if he had reacted the way he did yesterday… She couldn't find it in her heart to blame him. He thought she hated him even, she couldn't fault him for jumping to conclusions like that. 

“Good morning, girl. Everything okay?” Alya's golden irises scan her disheveled appearance, takes in the bags underneath her eyes with a soft, motherly look that makes Marinette feel so lucky to have found her. 

“Yeah, I'm fine.” As fine as she could be, of course. Not to say she wasn't okay, but she  _ was _ unmasked in the worst way she could have imagined yesterday. It's not like she can just tell her that, though.

Alya just nods and allows Marinette to direct her attention to Adrien. When Marinette’s gaze settles on him, he’s out of his seat and walking around the table to meet her with an apologetic gleam in his eyes. “Hi, Mari… I-I’m sorry, about my reaction yesterday… I should have listened to you but I was upset and I spoke without thinking--”

“It’s okay, Adrien. I don’t blame you for your reaction.” In her peripheral vision, she can see Alya pop out of her seat in excitement at hearing her BFF speak a full sentence without stuttering in front of him. She pointedly ignores it. “But I forgive you regardless. And to be clear: I’ve never hated you, even when I thought you put the gum in my seat the first day of school. You are much too kind and gentle to hate, you know.”

To her utter delight, his cheeks are washed in a soft pink glow as he looks down at her. His eyes are so soft, so tender… She can hardly breathe!-- “As far as the umbrella goes, I know it wasn’t your fault. It was Chloe’s. It doesn’t matter now, anyways, I've already said my piece to her.”

Alya pipes up with an eager note. “I think the words Adrien used were, and I quote, ‘You need a time out.’” The reporter laughs out. 

Marinette’s eyes widen a bit, looking at Alya with surprise. “Really?”

“Well, more like I said I’m not coming shopping with her this weekend if she doesn’t apologize to you before the end of the day… But the way Alya says it makes it sound way cooler.” The grin that appears on the model’s face is familiar to Marinette, in what way she has no idea… But she shakes her head as she laughs, sliding off her backpack. A long red box sticks out of her bag, which she slips out before she zips her backpack fully again. A wide, black ribbon keeps the box closed. 

“Either way, I’m not worried about it.” She admits, offering the box to Adrien. “I looked at the damage of the umbrella and found it would be better to replace the canopy than try to stitch that mess of ripped fabric together. So, I took it upon myself to do so.”

Adrien was genuinely stunned at the kindness Marinette showed him, looking down at the box in amazement. “Ma-Marinette, you didn’t have to--”

“You needed a new umbrella and I was more than willing to help,” She softly interjected, looking at him with a stern but soft look in her eyes. “Plus, I hate to see good fabric go to waste, and with the design I had in mind, I was able to use bits of the old canopy, along with making a more… Visually appealing design than just black.”

Adrien pulled at the ribbon and unlidded the box, revealing an umbrella wrapped in a blood red covering, much like the one Marinette had made previously. Untying the covering revealed a red umbrella covered in black spots.

“I overheard you saying that you were a big fan of Ladybug once, and well… Maybe sometimes, I wish for Ladybug to come kick away the rainy days. I can't exactly make her appear at will for every storm, but I hope this works just as much, Adrien.” Marinette folded her hands behind her back and rocked to and fro on her heels while Adrien admired the umbrella. Appreciation flickered like candlelight in his chartreuse gaze once it returned to Marinette, the familiar grin from before widening even moreso. 

“...I really would like to thank you Marinette… Words honestly don't convey how much this means to me.” 

At this, Marinette flushes, and waves a hand with sheepish dismissal. “Really, it's nothing! Anything you need, I'm here!”

“Then, I  _ really _ need to thank you properly. Maybe we could grab some lunch together today? Is that okay?”

Marinette's jaw falls slack as Alyas’ squeals fall on deaf ears. It takes a moment of searching Adrien's (also flushed!!!) face for any signs of deceit before she stutters out her acceptance and gathers her backpack into her hands.

Adrien's answer is excited, the blush on his face almost as red as hers as he babbles out a reply that promises to figure out the details after class as he follows after her to slide into his own seat.

A bubble of unrestricted happiness is glowing Marinette for a good ten minutes before Chloe walks into classroom and makes a bee line for Marinette's desk. 

“Okay, so make sure this is clear, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I dislike you. I don't like how pretty and popular you are and I especially don't like how you've gotten Adrien to like you so much… But you make him happy, and that's what matters, I guess.” Chloe rolls her eyes in distaste. “So, I'm sorry for ruining Adrien's umbrella while it was in your care.” With that, she turns to head back to her seat. She barely takes a step before Marinette, shockingly, replies in a soft tone. 

“Don’t get me wrong, but I don't think I'll forgive you too soon for that,” Marinette starts, a frown down turning the corners of her mouth. Chloe turns a little to catch the downcast expression on the designer's face. Marinette is looking down at her hands, vaguely recalling how the sickening violet fog that had curled around her fingers. 

“I was actually not expecting you to do that. You not only hurt me, but Adrien as well. I thought he was your friend?"

"Of course he is, we've been BFFs since diapers!"

"Yet you did something that ended up hurting him. Even if it was to humiliate me, was it worth it?"

For that, Chloe had no answer. In fact she had the decency to look ashamed, albeit slightly. Marinette sifted out a sigh.

 "I'm not the one who needs it, but thank you for apologizing. It's nice to see you feel some remorse.”

The air between them is still for a moment. Without another word, the blonde hangs her head and tilts it towards Adrien. A murmured apology is given. Then she walks back to her seat.

The absence of the usual whining from Chloe is jarring, but Marinette could only feel relief and pride towards her. It's a baby step, but a good one for somebody she once thought was irredeemable.

Ms. Bustier makes her entrance then, and Marinette forgets all about her lunch plans with Adrien as she pays attention in class. It's not til Adrien stops her before she leaves the classroom that she realizes what she almost forgotten completely.

“Any idea where you want to go for lunch?” He asks her, and she shakes her head.

“I really don't know, but I'm always up for anything!”

His answering grin stirs the butterflies knocking around in her belly, kicking them aflutter as he takes her hand in his and causes a whoop from Alya (who was watching from the doorway with an amused but proud Nino.) He gleefully leads her out onto the sidewalk, where the cool air hits them and makes the Parisian sun more pleasant than unbearable. The sunlight creates a halo in his blonde hair and warms the skin on her forearms. In comparison to the dismal day that occurred yesterday, it's absolutely beautiful out. Their walk to a café Adrien had offhandedly mentioned is made even more magical as a result.

“Again, I'm really sorry for jumping to conclusions yesterday. I hope I didn't upset you too much…” He hasn't let go of her hand at all. That makes it a little hard to focus, but she's still able to speak with most of her dignity intact.

She squeezed the hand in her grasp with a soft, slightly sad smile. “It's okay, honest.”

He shakes his head. “It's not… I heard there was an Akuma yesterday. You could've gotten hurt.”

“Between you and I… That akuma was me.”

He seemed incredulous, regarding her with slightly parted lips. “Did… Did I make you that upset?”

“It was more because the umbrella was destroyed than anything.” She pursed her lips. “Well, actually-- It was both your reaction and the umbrella. Either on their own I could have handled, but together, I never stood a chance.” Her nervous fingers rubbed the fabric of her jacket. 

Talking to Adrien like this was nerve wracking, but also freeing. Being honest with him was even more so. He deserved the truth regardless.

“I-- Adrien-- You're one of my closest friends, and I never ever want to lose you. I really thought I did yesterday because of something somebody else did.” Her blue gaze glanced up to meet his answering spring greens. “It broke my heart to see you cry, so torn apart over the thought of me hating you in some form or fashion. Trust me, I haven't hated you since that day in the rain.”

Recognition flickered in his eyes. "Are you talking about when I gave you my umbrella, a couple days after the gum incident?”

A gentle nod. He looks sheepish, all blush and grin. 

"Aw, no wonder you kept it so long. It's nice to know somebody cares about me as much as I care about them."

Vermillion fills Marinette's face as she chokes out a request for him to elaborate.

The look he gives her is such a 180° from the previous one that she feels a little whiplash. "Honestly Mari, don't you see?" He smugly says, raising a playful eyebrow. "You're so inspiring, talented, driven, hard-working… I'm pretty positive nearly all the school has a crush on you." He looks a bit put out as he says so. "Which makes my life harder because of all the competition I have now."

She blinks once, twice, three times-- It's taking her some time to process the fact that he, Adrien Agreste, just confessed to having a crush on her. When it hits her, her jaw might as well have hit the floor. She focuses on him again. He's rubbing the back of his neck nervously, the other hand shoved in the pocket of his jeans. He's looking at everywhere but her. His demeanor screams vulnerable. He's not lying, this isn't a joke--

"Ilikeyoutoo!" She blurts out, the hands that had moved from her face slapping against her mouth again. 

The smile that answers her is so bright, it leaves warmth crawling up her being, like sun kissing her skin. He looks so happy, and relieved, and awestruck. He scoops her up in a hug in the next moment, happily laughing. She goes as far as to join him, clasping her hands behind his neck and basking in his-- no,  **_their_ ** shared happiness.

"You h-have no idea how long I have waited t-to say that!" 

At that, his delight mixes with his curiosity. "How long then?" He sets her down gently, but his arms never leave her waist. For her it's like a weight keeping her grounded. 

"S-Since that day in the rain… I found myself falling for you." She admits. Her voice is soft and shy, gentle. "I would clam up and start stuttering and panicking whenever you were nearby!"

Well, that explained her behavior around him from before. It seems so silly to him now. "I thought maybe I made you so angry you couldn't speak to me, honestly…"

"Angry at you? Never!" She shakes her head in denial vehemently. "I was just too smitten to say anything." 

Maybe she was sharing too much at once, but with every little thing she said, she felt that much lighter. The lightness only encouraged her to share further. Besides, he didn't seem to mind it at all, a blush followed by a pleased expression appearing on his face. "If it helps, y-your stuttering was r-really, really c-cute!" 

Cue nervous giggling from the pigtailed teen, covering her cheeks as her blush deepened. She felt like she was in a dream. "You're cute too-- I-I mean!--"

"I know! I-I mean, I know what y-you're saying!"

They both share a look and start collapsing in laughter. Adrien's hands shift to her shoulders to keep him steady, so Marinette uses him to balance as well as they giggle uncontrollably. What a sight they must have been, laughing on the sidewalk for seemingly no reason.

Soon the hysterics subside, and they settle down enough to look at the other fondly. Marinette opens her mouth to say something, but her stomach growls out before she can utter a word. 

So Adrien releases her shoulders and takes her hand in his, and they both go ahead to the café. As they're talking over a couple of sandwiches, Adrien realizes a few things.

  1. Marinette is Ladybug. (Which shouldn't be a surprise, but seeing her roll her eyes at one of his puns firmly cements that idea in his head.)
  2. Marinette likes him back.
  3. Marinette has no idea that he's Chat Noir.



So the question is… 

How is he going to tell her? 

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR READING THIS MONSTER THAT I STARTED LIKE... AUGUST LAST YEAR? Like god this took so long to write. I hope you enjoyed it? Hopefully you did if you got this far. 
> 
> Rainy Day is a concept I created myself because I've never seen a fic where Adrien caused Mari's akumatization. I'm best at writing Angst so I was like "fuck it i'll write it" and 10 months later here we are. No beta, we write and revise a million times like men (or, in my case, Women.)
> 
> I'd like to thank my friend Minou for helping me when I was struggling with this fic. I'd also like to thank my brain for keeping me up at night telling me to write. 
> 
> Also if anybody was confused about Tikki eating the akuma: She's the kwami of creation right? So she basically created new life. Plus this way, the butterfly won't go straight back to Papillion and instead grow as nature intended. Just a little insight in case you were confuddled!
> 
> My tumblr just in case you have any questions: https://haleybeeeeeeee.tumblr.com/  
> Also, my design for Mari's akuma: https://haleybeeeeeeee.tumblr.com/post/185816280832/rainy-day-from-my-akumanette-fic-that-im-posting
> 
> Other than thaaat.... Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!


End file.
